Dakota hosts suicide prevention walk

The fifth annual Be Aware 5K Walk/Run for Suicide Prevention set for Oct. 19 at Dakota High School is promoting some healthy competition this year as a timed race has been added.

“We have added the aspect of being able to be timed in a race,” Dakota High School student assistant specialist Stephanie Lange said. “That is the key thing that is different. The point is still to bring awareness, bring families together and bring the community together to talk about the issue.”

Proceeds from the event will help fund prevention programming provided by the Chippewa Valley Coalition for Youth and Families, and KnowResolve, a local nonprofit suicide prevention organization.

Runners and walkers can register in advance at knowresolve.org and active.com, or register at the event, according to Lange. Check-in time begins at 10 a.m., and the event itself begins at 11 a.m.

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There are multiple ways to participate in the event. Registration to race is $20, which includes an event T-shirt, wristband, food and refreshments. Runners will be timed by Hansons Running Shop. Registration to walk is $5, including an event wristband, food and refreshments. The walk is not a timed event.

Participants can register as fundraisers for no entry fee. Fundraiser participants who raise $20 or more will receive the event T-shirt, wristband, food and refreshments. Fundraisers may participate in the run or the walk. Fundraisers who raise $250 or more will also receive a KnowResolve hooded sweatshirt and be entered into the top fundraisers competition.

Top fundraiser prizes include a $100 gift card to Partridge Creek for first place, $50 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings for second place, and $25 gift card to MJR Cinema for third place.

Lange said the goal is to obtain 300 or 400 participants, and to raise $20,000.

Law enforcement officials from the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office will be at the event, where walkers will follow a path from Dakota High School in Macomb Township down 21 Mile Road to Heidenreich and through several nearby subdivisions, according to Lange. Lange said the race will begin at Dakota and continue through three subdivisions.

“In our society, suicide is something people are uncomfortable talking about,” Lange said, “but with mental health, it is important to have an open dialogue. The Be Aware Walk/Run for Suicide Prevention offers an opportunity for openness about the topic. ... It is OK to talk about it, to talk about the feelings you are having. Then you are more likely to get help and be able to get past them. Research says that people who are suicidal do not want to die, they just want to not suffer anymore with whatever is going on.”

Although Lange stressed that the event is about the community and not simply schools, she also said the run/walk is part of a larger Yellow Ribbon campaign in the Chippewa Valley Schools district. The campaign is designed to let students know the warning signs of suicide and the importance of knowing that help is available.

Submitted photo

Participants in last year’s suicide prevention event at Dakota High School checked in at the school’s atrium. This year the event, to be held Oct. 19, will also offer a race.